When is enough, enough?

[struggle4progress]

Jonathan Knopf
Guest Column
February 15, 2018

... these shootings will continue to happen, unless we start taking the problem seriously ... The rhetoric about mental illness .. may be true, but as long as it continues to be easy for someone to obtain a semi-automatic weapon, history is doomed to repeat ...

I am a gun owner .. who refuses to join the National Rifle Association ... Millions of dollars flow from the major gun manufacturers to the NRA and into the pockets of people we elect ...

... in 2016, the gun lobby gave $4.2 million dollars to members of Congress ...

I'm looking forward to the day when the NRA has to pay the families of .. victims at least that much .. restitution for .. lost .. lives ...

https://www.summitdaily.com/opinion/knopf-when-it-comes-to-mass-shooting-when-is-enough-enough-guest-column/

[mindem]

1. Mental Illness

What a convenient cop-out. Unless a person is formally diagnosed and the powers that be are informed about the condition, how can a gun dealer know a person is mentally ill? The Mental Illness Policy Org. estimates that about 50% of individuals with severe psychiatric disorders (3.5 million people) are receiving no treatment. With the republicons "you're on your own" health plan, those numbers will probably increase.

[alarimer]

2. I want gun owners to put a number on it. How many dead is unacceptable?

I want them to tell me exactly what is the breaking point for them to get rid of their guns? And how many dead kids? Clearly we have not reached that point yet.

[rtracey]

3. When?

Enough will be enough when Paul Ryans kids get killed in a school shooting, or Mitch McConnell's grandkids, or Trumps kid Baron.... this sounds horrendous, and I never would want this on any of these people, but...do they really feel the same about my kids, my future grandkids? My daughter is a school teacher. Do they care if she dies in a school shooting? If a politicians family dies or get hurt on a faulty bridge, I guarantee that bridge will get fixed.